Having snacks throughout the day is a common occurrence for kids during the school day, especially for the students who have C lunch. This is where Psychology and Literature teacher Tracey Dryer came into play.

   Dryer sold snacks throughout the school day for 50 cents a piece throughout the entirety of the 2021-2022 school year. So, when students came back to school for this year, it was quite a shock to discover that she was no longer selling them. 

   While some students are upset about this, the school had reasons for shutting it down.  

   “We were sent an email from our food service director. The snack sales were not in compliance with our food service guidelines,” said Principal Scott Buchler. 

   If Dryer were to continue her snack sales, the school could have been at risk of loose access to free lunches.

    “There were a few factors regarding the shutdown, the primary one being nutritional needs.  Any snacks sold during school hours must meet federal guidelines, and the snacks available last year did not meet those guidelines,” said Dryer.  

    The Smart Snacks in School Nutrition standards apply to all food and beverages sold to students during the school day. Any school that participates in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) must comply with the Smart Snacks regulations.

    “The secondary reason was time. With switching back to a five-minute passing period, there simply is not enough time to operate the snack sales between classes,” said Dryer. 

   During the 2021-2022 school year the 500-Wing of the school was consistently packed with students just trying to get to class; add that to the students coming from across the school to grab a snack or two before focus time, and the halls can become very crowded. Kids who were just trying to get to class were made late because of the crowds in the hallway in front of room 517.

   Tardiness has been a long-time problem in the school that the administration has been trying to resolve. The store was making this issue harder to resolve, which in turn caused the shop to be shut down.